The official visit to the Czech Republic by Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc from April 16-17 grabbed the headlines in the Central European country's TV and radio channels and newspapers, which affirmed that the visit would create a new motivation for bilateral cooperation.

The Czech Parliament's website parlamentnilisty.cz stressed that the visit demonstrated the fine political relations between the two countries.

It said that the two nations hold huge potential to expand bilateral cooperation, as Vietnam is a promising market with over 90 million people and is integrating more deeply into the world economy, while the Czech Republic owns advanced sciences and technologies, especially in automobile manufacturing, nanotechnology, food processing and beer production.

Meanwhile, the EuroZpravy.cz website said that on the occasion of the Vietnamese PM's visit, PM Andrej Babis saw cooperation potential in transportation that the Czech Republic could be successful in Vietnam. The Czech leader also supported the opening of a direct air route linking Prague and Hanoi as well as the Vietnamese Government's efforts towards the signing of a free trade agreement with the European Union.

The TV channel Cesknoviny.cz cited Babis as saying that all parties involved hope the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement would be signed, ratified and become effective soon, and he will contact with the European Commission to see whether agreement can be signed and approved before the European Parliament's elections.